How did you become involved with OCL? At the recommendation of OCL’s Nina Monty, I completed Communication Skills Training in April 2017. Before the end of the first day, I knew that this class was very different from other communications classes I had attended. I knew that I wanted to become a professor. A few months later, I was given the incredible opportunity to join the August 2017 class of professor candidates. The first time I stepped in to the “top of the U” to teach, I knew that I was home.
How do you most often find yourself using what you learned in CST? Reflective Listening. I feel the blessing and burden of reflective listening every day. When I put the tenants of this critical skill to use, I feel the blessing of really hearing someone and the gift of being heard. But, I realize that I do not always practice reflective listening – I fall into old habits or don’t make the time to listen – and I feel the burden of that choice.
Three things that make you smile. Hearing my sons’ giggles, watching my husband play with our boys, observing students answer their own questions by reflectively listening to them
Your favorite book and why. Beach Music by Pat Conroy. I thought this would be a light beach read, it’s called Beach Music after all. But, after just a few pages I knew that this was a book that would stay with me long after I left the beach. I fell in love with Conroy’s writing and the beautifully tragic way he describes his characters and his beloved Lowcountry. I have read this book more than a dozen times, and it never gets old.